Waterborne Gastroenteritis due to the Norwalk Agent: Clinical and Epidemiologic Investigation

An outbreak of gastroenteritis occurred at a Pennsylvania summer camp in July 1978. Symptoms included abdominal pain (81 per cent), nausea (72 per cent), and vomiting (53 per cent); upper respiratory infection symptoms occurred in 35 per cent of the campers. Illness was associated with consumption o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of public health (1971) 1982-01, Vol.72 (1), p.72-74
Main Authors: Wilson, Rickey, Anderson, Larry J, Holman, Robert C, Gary, G. William, Greenberg, Harry B
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Child
Disease Outbreaks - epidemiology
Disease Outbreaks - etiology
Female
Gastroenteritis - epidemiology
Gastroenteritis - etiology
Humans
Male
Norwalk virus
Pennsylvania
Public Health Briefs
Surveys and Questionnaires
Virus Diseases - epidemiology
Virus Diseases - etiology
Water Microbiology
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Summary:An outbreak of gastroenteritis occurred at a Pennsylvania summer camp in July 1978. Symptoms included abdominal pain (81 per cent), nausea (72 per cent), and vomiting (53 per cent); upper respiratory infection symptoms occurred in 35 per cent of the campers. Illness was associated with consumption of five or more glasses of water or water-containing beverages. Stool cultures from affected persons were negative for bacterial pathogens; however, a fourfold or greater rise to the Norwalk agent was demonstrated in serum samples of three of three ill persons tested and in none of eight controls (p < .02). Campers ill during the first session who were also present during the second session did not become ill during the second session (p < .001). (Am J Public Health 1982; 72:72-74.)
ISSN:0090-0036
1541-0048
DOI:10.2105/AJPH.72.1.72